Daily Essentials: Quilted Flight Jacket

by soulbydapound

Rain or shine it’s winter time. Looking dapper and fashionable when the weather gets below 30 degrees is what separates the boys from the men. I personally have owned a flight jacket since 8th grade. These brisk times call for warm measures.

Some of best inventions are born out of necessity, other are simply by accident. In the case of the quilted flight jacket. improvements were made thank to  Eddie Bauer’s famed Skyliner—the world’s first quilted down jacket—you could say it was a little of both. An avid outdoorsmen, Bauer was trekking through western Washington’s Olympic Peninsula when his bulky, waterlogged wool coat became too heavy and he was forced to take it off. “I was climbing a very steep hill when I started to get sleepy,” he recalled to the New York Times in 1981. “I reached to touch my back and it was ice. I realized I was freezing to death.”

Bauer almost died on that mountain, but it was that brush with hypothermia that inspired him to create a jacket that was both warm and wearable. The goal was to make it as lightweight as possible. He’d heard about down clothing used by the Russian Army, so he bought a $25 bushel of goose down and started experimenting. It certainly insulated body heat but it was also lumpy and bulky. To tame the fluff, he added quilting. A ribbed collar and cuffs aided in keeping out chilly winds. A heavy-duty zipper finished it off and the Skyliner was officially debuted to the public in 1936. It revolutionized outerwear for the sporting set and soon became the first patented down jacket in the United States.

Daily Essentials: Col De Fourrure

by soulbydapound

Col De Fourrure in French. In english it’s known around the fashion world as the fur collar. Now that the weather in New York has reached to the point where breathing to heavy seems like your smoking a cigarette due to the temperature decease. If you’re not a fan of a scarf option to is a fur collar to protect you from illness.

Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing; thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; others reject it due to moral beliefs. The term ‘a fur’ is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals. Fur is still worn in most mild and cool climates around the world due to its superior warmth and durability. From the days of early European settlement, up until the development of modern clothing alternatives, fur clothing was popular in Canada during the cold winters. The invention of inexpensive synthetic textiles for insulating clothing led to fur clothing falling out of fashion.

Apologies to ladies who are against vintage fur.  I know there’s a lot of debate on views of faux or vintage fur, and I respect everyone’s opinions, but it is my sincerest hope that this will not turn into a debate on the subject.

Daily Essentials: Floral Power

by soulbydapound

Le Floral Shirt is exquisite just testing out my french. I went shopping in my dad’s closet yea yea yea I know thats bananas but sometimes thats the best spot. I found this cool floral shirt thats perfect for the summer time.

The floral shirt originally obtained it’s pattern design from the “ahola shirt” of Hawaii.  The Aloha shirt commonly referred to as a Hawaiian shirt is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. It is currently the premier textile export of the Hawaii manufacturing industry. The shirts are printed, mostly short-sleeved, and collared. They usually have buttons, sometimes as a complete button-down shirt, and sometimes just down to the chest (pullover). Aloha shirts usually have a left chest pocket sewn in, often with attention to ensure the printed pattern remains continuous. Aloha shirts may be worn by men or women; women’s aloha shirts usually have a lower-cut, v-neck style. The lower hem is straight, as the shirts are not meant to be tucked in.

Here are a few more examples

Daily Essentials” Collarless Shirt

by soulbydapound

 

Of course after you rack up on henleys and v-necks for the summer you wonder what else could be missing from your wardobe of such a simple nature. The collarless shirt is essential to have. No worries on discolored neck collars or even ironing a collar. These items are seen often amoungest Asian or Japense folk often. Ebay has a ton to select from. I actually found mine while thrifting about a month ago.

Summer Looks Dapper

by soulbydapound

Summertime essentials

Of course we will experience heat waves like none other this summer. Being overdressed in the summertime is equivalent to hell on Earth. Dapper has no temperature some light sweaters, blazers(roll up sleeves), different color pants preferably j crew and a few button downs will have you set and turning heads for the summer.

Fresh Rags

by soulbydapound

I’ve noticed Heritage Research has launched all their new stock on their official site, a great collection with a  cool ethos behind it from a brand who have gone from strength to strength.

Daily Essentials: Marled Sweaters

by soulbydapound

Call it static, call it speckled. Call it getting flecked. There are certain items each season that the style-conscious man simply can’t escape and this fall, that item would be the black and white marled sweater. Ragg wool, as it’s known, was traditionally made from rough, sturdy fibers and woven into rugged items like gloves and boot socks. You can still find those, but as of late, the two-tone style has been popping up in everything from crewnecks to cardigans—which look a whole lot tougher than they feel.

Daily Essentials: Shawl Collar

by soulbydapound

A shawl collar is a collar combined with a lapel. It is usually a rounded collar paired with a V-neckline that extends over the chest and tapers near the waist. This type of collar is commonly seen on cardigan sweaters, jackets, blouses and robes. The collar has its origins in the Victorian smoking jacket, whose collar style also inspired a style of lapel for dinner jackets.

It’s no secret that the shawl collar sweater has made a reemergence this winter season and thanks to J.Crews recently released line with the shawl collar style, we’ve learned a few things about this distinct sweater style that dates as far back as the early 1900’s.

Daily Essentials:Hand Knit Nordic Sweaters

by soulbydapound

I’ve been a member of Ebay for the last 4 years. And each year I learn more about fashion the better my ebay shopping become.  And it appears that unpound my recent findings that the hand-knit Nordic pullover’s need a spot in my closet. This season, the boldly colored sweaters featuring classic intarsia patterns along with embroidered animals and stitched snowflakes can be found almost everywhere.

Norway and knitting go hand in hand and has long been a tradition of the country. Norway’s special knitting techniques are found in today’s wool Norwegian sweaters. Since the 9th century, the wool from Norwegian sheep has been used for Norwegian sweaters, in order to make warm sweaters for long and cold winters. The Norwegian wool works great for high-quality Norwegian sweaters. The wool’s fibers are long and curly. When the fibers are made into yarn it makes strength, lightness and warmth.

Today, norwegian wool is not only popular for its practical advantages, but also for the fine patterns and exclusive garments that can be created from it. When you slip into a hand knitted woolen Norwegian sweater, you can feel the refined softness of the wool. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take too long before people all over the world found the benefits of traditional Norwegian sweaters.

Norwegian sweater designs are inspired by the magnificent nature that surrounds Norway and by Norwegian’s love for the mountains and the great outdoors. Norwegians have long traditions in wearing knitwear for both sport and leisure, and a woollen Norwegian sweater is for many the obvious choice while enjoying nature and mountain life.

Daily Essentials: The Pocket Square

by soulbydapound

Historically, white handkerchiefs have been used in place of a white flag to indicate surrender or a flag of truce; in addition to waving away sailors from port. King Richard II of England, who reigned from 1377 to 1399, is widely believed to have invented the cloth handkerchief, as surviving documents written by his courtiers describe his use of square pieces of cloth to wipe his nose.

When used as an accessory to a suit, a handkerchief is known as a pocket square. There are a wide variety of ways to fold a pocket square, ranging from the austere to the flamboyant:

• The Presidential, perhaps the simplest, is folded at right angles to fit in the pocket.
• The TV Fold looks similar but is folded diagonally with the point inside the pocket.
• The One-point Fold is folded diagonally with the point showing.
• The Two-point Fold is folded off-center so the two points do not completely overlap.
• The Three-point Fold is first folded into a triangle, then the corners are folded up and across to make three points.
• The Four-point Fold is an off-center version of the Three-point Fold.